Looking for update checking software

I currently use the free download manager FlashGet to check for updates for a large amount of software. However the old versions of FlashGet are very buggy and I am looking for an alternative program to do the same job.

The actual concept is very good - you can go the list of completed downloads and right click on any of them and there is an option to check for an updated version. FlashGet will check the the download link, and if the online file is different to the one already download, it will be downloaded.

I have created an Update category in FlashGet, and any new download I do, I drag to the update category once it's downloaded. Whenever I want to check for updates, I go to the update category, select everything and then right click and get FlashGet to check for updates. The problem is that from time to time, FlashGet will start playing up and some files won't download, or FlashGet will crash and the download database will become corrupted.

I'm using an outdated version of FlasgGet as the v2.x and v3.x releases have removed the update check function.

I am looking for a reliable alternative. Internet Download Manager has a comparable feature, but I prefer FlashGet. I have not found any other software to do the same job, so am looking for suggestions.

 

Hello Roger,

i don't know any software that works the way you describe... but if you´re interested in another kind of update checking software i would recommend Filehippo Update Checker .

It works this way:
During Windows startup it will activate and check for updated software for your computer.

If it finds updated software, the icon tray will become green. When you click in the icon, the default browser opens a page with direct download links to the updated software.

If there are not updates, it will close (you need to configure this in the options).

In the configurations, you can also find the options to check/or not to check for beta updates, and to choose for what applications you don´t want to check for updates.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Take a look at Ketarin. -https://ketarin.org

It's open source, and there are also online databases, which you can download from within the program itself. You'll have to type the name of whatever software you want to check for updates, and see if there's any script for it.

 

I have used that before, but the updates are limited to software available at filehippo.com which limits it usefulness for me.

 

I just had a quick look and it seems to be a bit too complicated for what I need. The approach used by FlashGet where it checks the details of the file online to see if it has changed since it was last downloaded seems more logical to me. I can see instances where that approach won't work, and Ketarin will - where the name of an installer changes with each version number and download url needs to updated to download the new version.

 

Roger, Sumo portable is a good idea I think. It works as Filehippo but is not limited as hippo. Is a comunity DB and almost all software are present (I use some rare software but is present, I think we are a geek comunity )
Use and download only the zip file (there is a zip icon) because installer have crapware (needed to survive developer sayd) and portable not
http://www.kcsoftwares.com/?download

also thread on wilders too
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=314623

I can't leave without Sumo
Let Sumo scan all yout C driver or Programs\Programs x86 so it can populate DB correctly
I used to block all outgoing port 80 connection for all my softwares and put outgoing only sumo to connect to the DB and it never failed to prompt me asap new updates

I missed one thing: even if is portable, is not 100% portable because it let a folder in Appdata, but is crapfree

 

I'm not a fan at all of Sumo. I used it for a day, checked off several bits of software I wanted to check for updates on, and was greeted with about 5 or 6 automatically opened browser tabs all on the official websites for those software selections. That's not an update checker in my book, hell I could have done that myself.

Secunia for security updates (when it works and doesn't hang, which is a rare since the last version), perhaps Nnite for other update uses if your software is listed. I can't think of many choices in this area, although it should be an obvious idea for some developer out there to work on since most software outside of browsers still require the user to do things for themselves.

 

Mman Ninite or Secunia offer very limited software updater (secunia only browser or flash or adobe; Ninite only software commonly used), FileHippo has a huge DB but is not complete as Roger right said, something not present in their site is not checked.
Sumo is the only offering an almost complete DB with rare software too, and is a Update checker (inform me about and update and let me choose how download it), wath you want is an update downloader and don't exist becaus business\cost reasons, thos kind of software needs some servers hosting all setup, only google or Microsoft have money to thing something so $$$

yes every single update sumo open a webpage if you click on the program, but simply going in the midle of the page and you find a searchbar searching via Google or other well know site. It make search realy simple.
For me imho is a musthave little tool and I use it a lot on my pc and others, spending only a minute and I know if pc need huge updates or not
Updater software is a security tool for me and I can't leave without

 

I have used Sumo before, but once again it is somewhat limited. With FlashGet I can check for updates for every piece of software I want to, and the updates are download automatically.

 

I use FlashGet v1.73. It's very stable.

 

I use v1.96, maybe I need to switch to the older version.

v1.96 works find for a long period of time, but eventually starts giving problems. It will crash when checking for updates, and in doing so will corrupt the download database. FlashGet keeps several backups of the database and you can usally get it working with one of the backups. However when I have up to 200 programs I check for updates, I don't want to have to revert to and old database and lose the most recent programs I have added.
Also, sometimes FlashGet refuses to start some downloads - they stay at 0% progress and get no further.

 

A few years ago FlashGet was shareware and was maintained by Amaze Soft, the last version by Amaze Soft was 1.72. Then the developer decided to abandon the development and gave the code to another group. v1.73 is the same as v1.72 only the registration part was removed and became freeware, it's the last stable build.

 

http://cleansofts.org/view/update-notifier.html

 

are you using that software yourself?
If so is it quite reliable and stable.

 

Kaspersky detects and removes the sumo installer as a trojan dropper and that was the lite version without any sponsership.

 

Thanks for the info I will go back v1.73 and see how it works.

 

Here is one I'm using for drivers that is from the Perfect Disk people.

http://docs.raxco.com/PerfectUpdater/default.asp

 

Yes ALL his software is detected as malware.

 

Well it is an update checker, not a downloader. You can try PSI, but the problem is, its purpose is to download security software updates, not all software updates.

So unless you need the newest versions of software, PSI is not for you, but if you want to be secure, then go ahead. http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/8697/25193373.jpg

 

i used to use it in portable mode and it worked quite well. nowadays i just use email subscriptions from softpedia, they email me whenever a new version of my favourite programs are released and i update manually.

 

Actually it is a rebranded version of Systweak's Advanced Driver Updater. It is the same product with a different name, but Systweak's version is better as updated versions of Advanced Driver Update are released before updated versions of the many rebranded versions. Updated versions often find more driver updates than the previous release.

Not what I'm looking for here, but is a very good driver update software.

 

Thanks for the update I have not seen any updates to it yet so that may explain it. It's a one year licence so I can wait a bit.

If you find what you are looking for I for one will want to know about it!

 

From my experience most updates are missed by the update check from within the program, and to get the updated versions you need to re-download the installer. Probably the easiest way to go if you want to do this, is to rename the setup file you already have in your downloads folder, and then download the latest setup file and if the files are not of the same size then obviously the program has been updated.

 

Another false positive warning....

 

I installed v1.73 but it can't open database from v1.96. When I get time I will write software to convert the v1.96 database into v1.73 compatible database.